The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Sarcophagus Panel

early 700s

China, Tang dynasty

(618-907)
limestone
Overall: 119 x 69 x 10 cm (46 7/8 x 27 3/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1975.63
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The two sides of the stone were engraved during the Tang dynasty, but the court lady and archer were likely carved 50 years later.

Description

This slab originally formed the "window" panel of a coffin encasement constructed to resemble a one-story house. The dwarfs bowing respectfully under the vertical lattice window, as well as the court lady and archer engraved on the reverse, reflect the style of contemporary figure painting. Complete structures with similar décor have been excavated from tombs in the Tang imperial cemetery near Xian in northwest China.
  • ? by 1939
    Sasakawa Shinichi 笹川慎一, Japan
    ?–1975
    (Yamanaka & Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan, sold to the the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1975–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sasakawa, Akio 笹川昭雄, ed. Sasakawa Shin'ichi Korekushon 笹川慎一コレクション.. Osaka: [publisher not identified], 1939. p. 11 (unnumbered)
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1975.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 2 (February 1976): 31–71. Reproduced: no. 178, pp. 56–57; Mentioned: no. 178, pp. 33, 71 www.jstor.org
    Hartman, Joan M. "Report from America,' Oriental Art, n.s. XXII (Autumn, 1976), 308, fig. 4 and (Winter 1976), 422, fig. 3
    Pearlstein, Elinor. “Pictorial Stones from Chinese Tombs.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 9 (November 1984): 302–331. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 309–324, figs. 14, 15, 32, and 34 www.jstor.org
  • Year in Review: 1975. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 3-March 7, 1976).
  • {{cite web|title=Sarcophagus Panel|url=false|author=|year=early 700s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.63